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Resident says planning commission meeting procedures limit public access to written materials, urges revision
Summary
Resident Al Peterson told commissioners that planning commission hearings have left in-person attendees unable to share written evidence with absent commissioners and suggested scanning or projecting documents during hybrid meetings; he also urged longer subdivision approval timelines.
Al Peterson, a Columbia County resident, used the Feb. 5 public-comment period to say planning commission hearings have sometimes left in-person attendees unable to ensure all commissioners receive written evidence in hybrid meetings.
"Only two commissioners out of seven could even look at the papers," Peterson said, describing two recent hearings in which a majority of commissioners were remote and could not see documents presented in the meeting room. He recommended the county provide a scanner or an easy way to share photographs of documents with commissioners and suggested using a projector to display submitted materials during hybrid meetings.
Peterson also raised a second, substantive point about county zoning timelines: he said the county's zoning ordinance allows one year plus a six-month extension for subdivisions, which he argued is shorter than the county's four-year residential development allowances and shorter than practices in other Oregon counties. "So I recommend you fix that because guaranteed subdivisions take longer," he said, citing engineering approvals, wetland studies and financing as factors that lengthen subdivision timelines.
Commissioners took Peterson's comments under consideration; the public-comment portion concluded and the meeting proceeded to the consent agenda.
